After a mild winter, massive amounts of rain and the hot ‘n stickies headed our way next week, a perfect storm of conditions is shaping up to unleash blood-sucking skeeters on the London region.

What a difference a year makes.

“Last year, it was about (summer) dryness and the heat,” said Environment Canada meteorologist David Phillips.

“This year, it’s the year of the mosquito.”

Not just a nuisance, the summer pests also spread worriesome diseases like West Nile virus.

Phillips said that with the huge amounts of rainfall the region had in May, there’s been plenty of opportunity for water to pool in ditches and backyards, creating perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

In April and May alone, the London area had about 250 milimetres of rain — triple what it had during those two months last year.

All the mosquitoes need now to multiply, is warm weather and sunshine — with predictions for just that by the weekend, when temperatrues are forecast to begin hitting the 30 C range.

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Take it from an expert, with all the standing water around, mosquitoes will quickly warm to our area.

“The females lay their eggs in water and their larvae feed and live in there,” said Jeremy McNeil, a Western University biology professor and bug specialist. “If there’s water around, they’ll be there.”

The region’s mild winter — February was balmy, when it should have been a deep freeze — kept mosquitoes from dying, giving them a chance to breed earlier than usual, McNeil said.

The cooler-than-normal spring kept water from evaporating, as well, fueling the mosquito-friendly conditions.

“They’re going to be reproducing like crazy,” said Phillips. “And coming this weekend, we’re going to be going out and have more skin showing — it’s like a buffet for mosquitoes.”

While West Nile virus and Encephalitis are often causes for concern when it comes to mosquitoes, McNeil says it’s important to keep things in perspective.

“We don’t have egregious diseases like malaria and chikungunya that are in the tropics,” he said.

“In 99 per cent of the cases, all you’re going to do is get bitten and not much else.”